Northern Inland Order of Merit Series
On a crisp but fine winters day, the Bundarra Golf Club hosted their inaugural Junior Open Day with players coming from Armidale, Coonabarabran, Guyra, Inverell, Longyard, Moree, Tamworth, Tenterfield, Walcha as well as the host club. To the best of our knowledge, this is the ONLY event played on sand greens in the JNJG calendar and the kids love it!! The 27 participants were also influenced by the fact the “Double Points” in the Order of Merit were on offer and this was seen by some as an opportunity to get a jump on the field in the season long event.
A fantastic round of 69 (1 over par) by Andrew Brennan (Walcha) was good enough to win the Junior Boys gross event. Tom Gill (Tamworth) also enjoyed the sand green experience with another good round of 71. The Junior Boys nett division was won by Taylor Brennan (Guyra) with a score of 64. This result was good enough to push Taylor significantly up the ladder in the OOM nett competition so it will be interesting to see how he fares with a new handicap!! Other good scores were recorded by Bailey Milford (C’bran), Ethan Weir (Longyard) and Zac Kelly (C’bran).
Matilda Chapman (C’bran) and Breanna Purse (Moree) were the only two girls competing in the Junior Girls division but I believe the first sand green event for both of these girls was a positive experience. Matilda took home the prize for the best nett score and Breanna recorded the best gross score.
The Cadet (9 hole) Boys OOM competition is turning into a very close encounter with the top 6 boys separated by only 8 points after the Bundarra event. On Sunday, Garth Walls (Guyra) had a narrow (1 shot) victory over Luke Devney (Moree). Luke still leads the OOM competition but the field is closing fast. Other good scores were recorded by Brendan Scott (Tamworth) and Harry Milford (C’bran). Annabelle Abrahamson (Moree) was again the only competitor in the Cadet Girls Division but also handled the sand green experience with some aplomb.
The next event on the Northern Inland Order of Merit series is at Gunnedah Golf Club on Sunday 2nd August closely followed by the Uralla Junior Open day on Sunday 23rd August.
If you have any questions relating to Junior Golf in the Northern Inland Region, please contact Gerard Wilkinson, Jack Newton Junior Golf, on mobile 0419 708 676.
